Another Great Adventure

 

This week, I began working an eight-week substitute teaching assignment in a second grade classroom, covering for a great friend and a wonderful educator who is taking maternity leave. This is the fifth time in my teaching career that I’ve had the privilege of working for friends/co-workers while they stayed home with their new babies.

Each time I am asked to take the reins for a teacher going on an extended leave, I am both surprised and honored by their request. Despite this being my ninth year in education, I still find it incredible that certified professionals who have dedicated their lives to their students and their craft would entrust their classrooms to me. Yet trust me they do. You may recall that I was even entrusted to teach music for an entire school year. Actually, trust may not be the right word. Perhaps desperation would be more accurate.  

At any rate, once again I find myself embarking upon another great adventure at the Primary School. The students in my class feel like old friends due to the fact that I’ve known most of them since they were in kindergarten. The teachers I’m working with are like family, with this being my third extended stint as a member of the second grade team. Indeed, the next two months will be a lot of fun. 

That being said, I must admit I’m a little jealous of those new parents staying home with their babies. My grandbaby Freya just turned four months old, and I absolutely love spending time withher. She is Pop’s best buddy, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do to get her to smile. 

I worked full-time as the sales manager of an auto auction when Freya’s dad Alex was born, and I didn’t take any paternity leave at all. (Truman was two and Tiana was seven when we adopted them, so I missed out on their infancy entirely.) Although I loved Alex more than anything in the world, I didn’t always handle being a first-time parent as well as I would have liked. I wonder how differently things might have gone if I could have spent an extended amount of time bonding with him at home.

Freya and I have formed a close bond already, even though I have worked a lot since she was born. I spend as much time with her as I can when she stays at Mimi and Pop’s house, but it’s never enough. Sometimes I wish there was such a thing as maternity/paternity leave for grandparents, and then I remember there is—it’s called retirement.

Between the stress of being a teacher during a pandemic and the desire to spend every minute I can with Freya and the rest of my family, I confess that retirement has crossed my mind. I am only a substitute teacher, after all, and retiring would be as easy as not answering the phone. However, all it took to convince me to continue subbing this year was knowing that I could help out two dear friends/teachers who were becoming first-time parents. With a substitute teacher shortage exacerbated by the pandemic, I didn’t want them to worry about finding a sub they could trust their classes with while they were on leave. 

That’s not to say that there are no other reliable subs working in our district. In fact, there are several. And they are all working their tails off during this crazy school year. Until the days of incessant quarantining pass, it will continue to be all hands on deck for substitute teachers. In addition to the two maternity leaves this year, I’ve also worked three other assignments longer than five school days each as well as a few single day assignments here and there. 

Absences frequently go unfilled due to the scarcity of subs, so if you have ever considered subbing, or if you’ve been laid off during the pandemic, please contact Kelly Educational Staffing at 573-445-5907 (option 1) as soon as possible.

I don’t know what the future holds for me, but for now I will embrace the opportunity to warp—I mean shape—the minds of 16 second graders each day as it comes. And when I come home after school, I will take a long, hot shower, change into clean clothes, put on a fresh mask, use some hand sanitizer, and play with my beautiful grandbaby.

I might even make some time for my own children. (They all know who Pop’s favorite is.)